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<Anchor> It is time for the ‘IPO pre-board’.

As Lunit, an artificial intelligence (AI) medical company, was listed on the KOSDAQ market on 21st of July, interest in companies in related fields is also increasing.

Let's find out more details with reporter Jae-joon Yang.

After Lunit was listed, there is a movement by related companies to go public and attract investment right?

<Reporter> It is true that Lunit, an artificial intelligence (AI) medical company, was somewhat sluggish from calculating the public offering price to predicting demand as it pushed for 

listing this month.

However, on the first day of listing on 21st of July, the stock price easily exceeded 30,000 won and closed at the upper limit, making up for the sluggish subscription results.

Lunit, Vuno, JLK, and Deepnoid are listed as artificial intelligence medical companies on the KOSDAQ market.

Coreline Soft plans to reapply for technical evaluation next month and go public.

Airs Medical succeeded in attracting 25.3 billion Won in Series B investment from Q Capital Partners and others on the 27th, and AIDOT plans to complete the Series B investment 

sooner or later.

Let's listen to Jaehoon Jeong, CEO of AIDOT.

[Interview: Jaehoon Jeong, CEO of AIDOT / Korea Investment & Securities, Series A from Fine Value Asset Management has been completed. Currently, Series B is underway, and an 

agreement is almost reached, so it is expected that Series B funding will be done soon. Rather than a technology special listing, we are aiming for a general listing in the third quarter of July to August 2024, based on current overseas sales and domestic and international sales. It seems that all of these contents have been well discussed with Korea Investment & 

Securities, the lead manager.]

<Anchor> Following Lunit, I've heard about the KOSDAQ listing of artificial intelligence medical companies and heard that they are rapidly entering the global market recently?

<Reporter> Lunit is supplying products to more than 600 medical institutions around the world in partnership with major global medical device companies such as GE Healthcare, 

Philips, and Fujifilm.

In addition, this month, it signed a contract with Thailand's Bumrungrad International Hospital, including Cathay Life Insurance, Taiwan's largest insurer, to supply chest X-ray imaging 

solutions (insite CXR) and mammography imaging solutions (insite MMG).

Let's listen to Beom-seok Seo, CEO of Lunit, regarding overseas expansion.

[Interview: Beom-seok Seo, CEO of Lunit / Since 2019, we have received our first license in Korea, and since then, we have been expanding our region by expanding our licenses such 

as European CE (Integrated Standards Certification), US FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and Japan. Since we're working with medical equipment companies that already have 

channels and moving towards a model where they can put our products on their platforms and sell them, there is a growing number of areas that we can expand and that our partners can expand and sell with licensing.]

In May, AIDOT signed a business partnership agreement with Uzbekistan's GSG Group to supply the Artificial Intelligence cervical cancer screening product, the Cerviray system.

Prior to this, in April, it completed the official license and registration of Cerviray with the Indonesian Ministry of Health (MOH) and decided to supply the product through Pyridam 

Farma, a large local pharmaceutical company in Indonesia.

Let's listen to Jaehoon Jeong, CEO of AIDOT.

[Jae-hoon Jeong, CEO of AIDOT / Since Cerviray uses artificial intelligence to plan services for countries that lack medical infrastructure, not only Uzbekistan, but also Kazakhstan, 

India, Thailand, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries are actively introducing it. In particular, in Uzbekistan, we have already received officially recognized AI medical 

service grades through the government's National Cancer Center.]

Besides, Vuno obtained medical device certification for its chest X-ray image reading aid solution in Saudi Arabia last month.

Also, in June, JLK signed an exclusive sales contract for lung disease solutions with DoctorNet, a Japanese remote imaging diagnosis company.

<Anchor> It is expected that artificial intelligence medical companies will continue to grow as their global expansion becomes more active. What is the business performance outlook for these companies this year?

<Reporter> As the pace of overseas expansion accelerated, Lunit recorded sales of 6.6 billion won last year, and this year's sales are expected to record around 20 billion won.

However, this year's operating profit is unlikely to record a surplus due to factors such as increased R&D costs.

Lunit plans to expand collaboration with global big pharmas by utilizing not only medical institutions but also biomarkers.

Let's listen to Beom-seok Seo, CEO of Lunit.

[Interview: Beom-seok Seo, CEO of Lunit / We started making biomarkers related to immuno-cancer drugs in 2017, and it was gradually completed two years ago, so we applied them 

to clinical trials. Since the treatment response rate is proving to be accurate in selecting patients who respond well through our Lunit scope, so the collaboration with pharmaceutical 

companies is going well. In fact, if the results are good after setting up a clinical trial, it will go smoothly to the licensing stage.]

As you saw earlier, AIDOT plans to achieve full-fledged growth with an operating profit surplus this year based on overseas and domestic sales.

Artificial intelligence medical companies are planning to launch additional new products and upgrade solutions and platforms this year, while further strengthening the establishment of global partnerships.

To this end, related companies plan to accelerate overseas expansion by participating in the 2022 Chicago Radiation Medical Devices Show (RSNA), the largest event in the field of 

radiology, to be held in Chicago, USA from 30th of November.

<Anchor> Although artificial intelligence medical companies are actively advancing overseas, there are many sayings that health insurance coverage is difficult in Korea and that 

policies need to be improved. What do you think?

<Reporter> Since May 2018, the first artificial intelligence-based diagnostic aid software medical device was approved in Korea, a total of 80 have obtained permission from the 

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

However, the product for which health insurance benefits are applied is only one product of Vuno's (AI medical device) 3D MRI imaging and reading solution.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety supports the development and approval of medical devices, but the health insurance review and evaluation agency under the Ministry of Health 

and Welfare makes decisions on health insurance listing.

Artificial intelligence medical devices must be certified for new medical technology evaluation to be listed in the item code that determines the insurance fee by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, but the reality is that it is not easy.

The biggest issue is the effectiveness for patients, the issue of effectiveness, and the position is that additional value will be recognized when benefits to patients or cost reduction 

effects are proven.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday (27th) held the 4th emergency economic and public welfare meeting presided over by President Seok-yeol Yoon and announced that it 

would support the market entry of innovative medical devices by forming a “Digital software evaluation committee” in which the government and the private sector participate.

The key is to resolve the difficulty of securing clinical data for related companies by introducing non-reimbursement and selective benefit (50%, 80%), which are partially borne by 

patients in the medical field, and then reevaluating to determine whether to receive health insurance benefits.

As domestic AI medical companies are recognized for their technological prowess in the global market, we hope that the health authorities will actively support their policies.

29th.Jul.2022. / Korea Economic Daily / Reporter Jae-joon Yang